The British Isles

Historic Society History, Heritage, Traditions & Customs Special Fall Edition September Equinox

The September Kingdom was celebrated on the Sunday of the full moon closest to the September equinox. Date and Equinox time for 2020-09-22, 13:30 (or Southward The autumnal equinox in the northern equinox) is the moment hemisphere marks the time when the sunrise occurs when the Sun appears later and the night begins to fall earlier each to cross the celestial evening. Plants begin to die or go dormant for the equator, heading winter and animals begin to hibernate. southward. Due to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_equinox differences between the calendar year and the tropical year, the September equinox can occur at Harvest Festival any time between September 21 and 24. In Britain, thanks have been given for At the equinox, the Sun as viewed from the successful harvests since pagan times. Harvest equator rises due east and sets due west. Before the festival is traditionally held on the Sunday near or of Southward equinox, the Sun rises and sets more the Harvest Moon. This is the full Moon that occurs northerly, and afterwards, it rises and sets more closest to the autumn equinox in September. The southerly. celebrations on this day usually include singing The equinox may be taken to mark the end of hymns, praying, and decorating churches with summer and the beginning of autumn (autumnal baskets of fruit and food equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere, while marking in the festival known as the end of winter and the start of spring (vernal Harvest Festival, Harvest equinox) in the Southern Hemisphere. Home, Harvest Thanksgiving or Harvest The traditional harvest festival in the United Festival of Thanksgiving. Mell Harvest Festival Mell Cakes Thanksgiving is an American tradition. Canada Ingredients: also have a Thanksgiving feast, but the British 1 lb (450g) plain flour historically they had a Harvest Festival. 7 oz (200g) lard

pinch of salt

4 oz (113g) currents

1 teaspoon baking powder

5 fl oz (quarter pint) of milk

Harvest time, 1954. Sugar to garnish Image: Institute of Agricultural Until the 20th History, University of Reading. century most farmers Method: celebrated the end of the harvest with a big meal Mix all the dry ingredients. Mix into a stiff dough called the harvest supper, to which all who had with the milk helped in the harvest were invited. It was sometimes known as a "Mell-supper", after the last patch of Roll out to ½” inch (1 cm) thick to the size of a corn or wheat standing in the fields which was plate and cook it on a greased baking tray in a known as the "Mell" or "Neck". moderate oven for about 25 minutes ‘Mell’ was the dialect word When cooked, split and butter them, and sprinkle for the last sheaf cut in the harvest them with sugar field across the northern counties Best when served warm. of England, and the Mell Supper They were made into large plate-sized circles was the Harvest Home gathering to to be broken and shared out communally. celebrate. Nowadays the festival is held at the end of This was ‘harvest home’ time harvest, which varies in different parts of Britain. ... again, a big event in the farming year, as it contributed significantly to the economic survival for The modern British tradition of celebrating another year of both farmers and farm workers. Harvest Festival in churches began in 1843, when the Reverend Robert Hawker invited parishioners to a It was traditionally followed, particularly if the special thanksgiving service at his church at harvest was good – and the farmer generous – by a Morwenstow in Cornwall. Mell Supper, with much eating, drinking and dancing, to celebrate. The last sheaf of corn cut was Crying The Neck is a harvest festival tradition often tied up with ribbons and flowers, and Mell once common in counties of cakes were also baked for the occasion. They were Devon and Cornwall in the made into large plate-sized circles to be broken and United Kingdom in Europe. The shared out communally. tradition declined following the invention of machines such as

the combine harvester. G. Alers-Hankey was The Craigflower Manor born in 1869 in Bexley, Kent and and Craigflower was educated in England. Emigrated Schoolhouse from there in 1891 and arrived in Vernon in 1892 to open the city’s are National Historic Sites first bank, a branch of Wulffson and of Canada located in View Bewicke, a private bank. After the Bank of Montreal Royal, (the opened the following year, Mr. Hankey went into the Manor) and Saanich (the Schoolhouse) near . real estate business for himself under the name of The centerpiece of each historic site is a G.A. Hankey & Co. In 1913, he sold the business to A. 19th-century building — a manor and schoolhouse Waring Giles, but retained wide business interests at commissioned by the Hudson's Bay Company to the coast which he managed until his death in 1943” provide education and lodging for their employees. The four-story Hankey Built as part of the agricultural community block was designed by Craigflower Farm, the buildings served as a focal Thornton & Jones in 1911 point for the community into the modern era; they and built by Purdy & remain open to the public today as museums Lonegan at a cost of devoted to the colonial history of Victoria $33,000. When it opened it became the Holborn Rooms. TRIVIA: Queensborough, New Westminster: G A Hankey developed the block – but he Queensborough was the name originally wasn’t in . Gerald Cramer Alers Hankey chosen for the colonial capital by Royal Engineer ran a Vernon company where he was a ‘Notary commander Colonel Richard Clement Moody. When Public, Financial, Land, Insurance and General Agent Queen Victoria designated New Westminster instead Mining Broker and Agent’. He was 41 when he as her new capital's name, the name developed the hotel. He arrived from England in Queensborough became applied to New 1891; his wife Mary was also English but had arrived Westminster's portion of Lulu Island, in Canada in 1885. In 1911 they had three sons and a daughter (who died soon afterwards) in their Vernon Sapperton: home. The company also owned the Hotel Russell in Sapperton was originally a "suburb" of New New Westminster. Westminster, named for the Columbia Detachment of Royal Engineers ("Sappers"), whose camp was on the hill now occupied by the Fraserview neighbourhood. It is the location of the historic Fraser Cemetery, which rivals Victoria's Ross Bay Cemetery for the number of historically significant graves and monuments. Sapperton is the home of . the first commercial brewery to operate in British Columbia known as the "City Brewery". Over the years the brewery changed hands and was operated by Labatts until it closed in 2005. Mock Goose Pie Skin the sausages and squash them together before spreading over the bottom of a gratin dish or You have heard, similar ovenware container of course, of ‘Bangers ‘n Mash’. This is a Place the fried onions and mushrooms on top of variation on this, but the sausage meat a much more interesting, tasty and nutritious Top with the seasoned potatoes, forking the top variation on this sausage and mash potato theme. so it becomes crisp and brown

Ingredients Sprinkle over a handful of grated Cheddar cheese on top of potatoes 450g/1lb pack of good quality pork sausages, skinned Cook for around 60 minutes at 180c/gas mark 5 until the cheese is golden brown 450g/1lb mashed potatoes Serve at once with some nice seasonal green 1 large onion, sliced and fried in a little butter vegetables and good gravy. 110g/4oz mushrooms, sliced to fry with the onions https://traditional-yorkshire-recipes.info/2020/07/22/mock-goose- Salt, freshly ground black pepper, mustard powder pie/ to season Mock Goose. Image: Baker Mike/Keighley News Knob of butter Daniel Loftus Beckinsale Dash of cold milk or double cream First port doctor b. Nov. 18, Good handful of grated Cheddar cheese 1846, Isle of Wight; d. c. Feb. 14, 1929, London, Eng. Graduated MB, Method CM (Edinburgh U., 1872); MD in To make nice fluffy potatoes, start with good 1874. Served on several London quality potatoes like Maris Piper or King Edward hospital staffs. Came to Vancouver in June 1886. First port doctor and early health officer. Peel the potatoes, cut them into chunks placing Formed the Vancouver Reading Room, them into a big saucepan predecessor of the first public library. In 1887, the Start the potatoes off in cold salted water and Reading Room opened at 144 West Cordova bring them to the boil, then cook for 15 minutes Street. In 1894, the Free Reading Room and Library until fork-tender moved to a larger (46 ft2) room in the new Young Strain and set aside to cool slightly before mashing Men's Christian Association (YMCA) Building at 151 by hand with a fork until fluffy West Hastings Street. Moved to Interior because of ill health, residing in Nelson in 1894. Lived in San Season the potatoes with a good knob of butter, Francisco (1905-06) and survived the big earthquake. salt, black pepper, mustard powder and a dash of In 1916, he was practising in Wales. milk till you have the correct consistency you want, then set aside 1748: Fine porcelain developed Fry the sliced onions and mushrooms in a little by Thomas Frye (c. 1710–1762), butter till golden colour of Bow porcelain factory, London Irish Culture and Customs "To cut it in this way needed both luck and skill and the worker who succeeded on cutting the last Lughnasa - Celebrating the Harvest stalks was loudly cheered. " Putting out the hare, putting on the http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACustom/ AfterHarvest.html harvest knots, by Bridget Haggerty New Caledonia, Small animals retreated District of Hudson's Bay Company from advancing harvesters by hiding in the remaining crop, Capital: Fort St. James and in the old days, every • Established 1805 farmer went to great lengths • Dis-established 1858 to ensure that his last field would be harvested The central region was given the name of before a next door neighbor or other man in the “New Caledonia” ("New Scotland") by explorer village. Thus the call..."Have you put the hare out Simon Fraser. To avoid confusion with Colombia in yet?" South America and the island of New Caledonia in How it worked was that a small portion of the the Pacific Ocean, Queen Victoria named the area crop - usually enough to make one sheaf - was left British Columbia when it became a colony in 1858. standing while the rest of the last field was finished. New Caledonia was a fur-trading district of Before the final piece was cut, the workers raised a the Hudson's Bay Company that comprised the shout or made a noise to "put out the hare." If a territory of the north-central portions of farm nearby still had a standing crop, the workers present-day British Columbia, Canada. Though not would then say : "we sent you the hare." a British colony, New Caledonia was part of the According to ancient folklore, there was a tale British claim to North America. Its administrative of an old hag who turned into a hare to steal the centre was Fort St. James. The rest of what is now cow's milk. This story also mentions putting out the mainland British Columbia was called the Columbia hag who was driven from field to field until she Department by the British, and the Oregon reached the last field of the last man in the village to Country by the Americans. Even before the partition cut the last sheaf. The hag could go no further and it of the Columbia Department by the Oregon Treaty in was the unfortunate lot of the tardy farmer that he 1846, New Caledonia was often used to describe must support the hag or hare for a year. anywhere on the mainland not in the Columbia Interestingly, in many Department, such as Fort Langley in the Fraser parts of Ireland, the last Valley. sheaf itself was called the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Caledonia_(Canada) cailleach or hag. Traditions surrounding the cutting of the last sheaf varied from region to region. In places as far apart as Antrim and Down in the north-east and Limerick and Tipperary in the south-west, the workers stood back a short distance and each took a turn at throwing their reaping hook at it. According to Kevin Danaher in his book, The Year in Ireland: Bilberries Granville Street & Yorkshire Pudding Sir Granville Leveson The bilberry (Vaccinium -Gower, 2nd Earl Granville myrtillus) is a round, was the Secretary of State of flat-topped, delicious tiny fruit Foreign Affairs of the United that grows in the wild. It is Kingdom in the mid-19th seldom cultivated. The berries grow profusely on century. Granville Leveson- small, wiry shrubs, mainly on high ground in the Gower, 1st Earl Granville, GCB, north and west of the British Isles. Due to its small PC (12 October 1773 – 8 January 1846), styled Lord size and blue color, it is often mistaken for a Granville Leveson-Gower from 1786 to 1815 and blueberry. Viscount Granville from 1815 to 1833, was a British Whig statesman and diplomat from the Ingredients: Leveson-Gower family. Yorkshire Pudding batter, (option: made from 4 oz Robson Street (113 g) plain flour, medium egg, and a half pint of milk & water (50/50) John Robson (14 8 oz (225 g) bilberries, washed (substitute March 1824 Perth – 29 June Blueberries) 1892 London) was a Canadian journalist and politician, who 4 oz (113 g) white sugar served as the ninth Premier of Method: the Province of British Columbia. Combine the berries with the sugar, then mix into the batter Heat a little vegetable cooking oil or lard in either Henry John Cambie one large round or square baking tin, or two medium Born: October 25, 1836, -sized tins, in a hot oven until the fat is very hot County Tipperary, Ireland, Add the batter and berry mixture and cook for Died: April 23, 1928, around 20 minutes for two tins, or 30 minutes for Vancouver. Henry John Cambie one large tin, until the batter is crispy and golden. was a Canadian surveyor, civil Serve hot with cream. engineer, and a notable figure in the completion of that country's transcontinental https://traditional-yorkshire-recipes.info/2020/07/22/bilberries- yorkshire-pudding/ railway. He was also a notable pioneer resident of Vancouver. Cambie was educated in England, and 1790: Sewing machine for leather emigrated to the Province of Canada as a youth, invented by Thomas Saint. where he learned to be a surveyor. In 1804, a sewing machine was built by the Englishmen Thomas Stone and 1605 Bacon’s cipher, a method James Henderson, and a machine for embroidering of steganography (hiding a secret was constructed by John Duncan in Scotland message), is devised by Sir Francis Bacon Gerald Arnold The Union Rushton Author, Steamship Company of historian b. July 20, British Columbia was a 1898, Liverpool, Eng.; pioneer firm on coastal British d. Nov. 12, 1993, Columbia. It was founded in Tsawwassen, B.C. His November 1889 by John Darling, a director of the interest in marine Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, and nine history began in 1913 local businessmen. The company began by offering after winning a local service on near Vancouver and scholarship to later expanded to servicing the entire British Liverpool Collegiate Columbia coast. School. Took officer training (1915-19), learning The Union Steamship Company began world trade shipping. Of the 12,000 students who operations in 1889, with cargo steamers , trained with him, 9,000 died in WWI. Coquitlam and servicing the camps, After working with his father, a senior manager canneries and settlements of the BC Coast. in Liverpool's J.H. Welsford Co., Gerald emigrated to Operations extended into Alaska when gold was B.C. in 1920 and joined a subsidiary, Union discovered in the Klondike in 1896. Steamship. His 38-years with the company and knack By the turn of the last century, "the Union", as for research made him a sought-after expert on the it was affectionately known, was the lifeline of the coast's maritime heritage. Married Margaret Pacific Northwest. Settlements and camps far more Rushton in 1930. Biblio: Whistle up the Inlet; Echoes numerous and larger than today's depended of the Whistle. completely on the company for news, mail, supplies Margaret Elinor Rushton Holiday and transportation. The arrival of every boat drew a Theatre founder b. Sept. 28, 1907, Wigan, Eng.; d. cheerful crowd. Aug. 13, 1977, White Rock. Came to Canada in 1930. In 1917, with an Joined Vancouver Little Theatre, serving as president influx of English capital, (1949-54). Her interest in children's theatre led her the company ventured to Holiday Theatre, where she was tour coordinator. into the excursion and When Holiday Theatre became part of the Playhouse resort business with the Theatre Centre, Margaret was public relations officer acquisition of 7 acres at and organized B.C. tours. Member, Dominion Drama and the steamers and Chilco. Festival national executive; president, B.C. Drama "Selma Park" at Sechelt was its first destination Association. Retired in 1971. Wife of Gerald Rushton. resort. Editors note: I had the great privilege of knowing The Union Steamship Company was bought Bro. Rushton. I have both a copy of his book out by the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company in “Whistle up the Inlet” and a recording of a talk he 1948. The SS Noronic fire in Toronto forced the gave at Lodge one night on his experiences with Federal Maritime Department to change marine “The Union Steamship Company” regulations regarding wooden passenger vessels, cont. page 8. … ... … while the Edgar George Baynes nature of the BC was born to Harriet Amelia and coastal fleet George Baynes on Fens Farm in changed more to Brocking, Essex England. He had 5 freight and a tug brothers and sisters: Hetty, Kate, and barge Alfred, Jim, and Lila. He and his operation. The Union Steamships ran until 1956 family moved to Stisted Hall, Essex when a strike finished the fleet. https:// in 1874 and were educated at www.bowenheritage.org/the-union-steamship-company. Braintree Board School. The Harvest, The word Edgar ran away from home in 1883 and joined ‘harvest’ comes from the Old a firm of builders in 1884. He spent 5 years learning English word hærfest meaning the building trade. ‘autumn’, aptly the season for gathering the food of the land. This was a vital time On April 4, 1889, he left for Liverpool on the of year, when success was a genuine matter of life or S.S. Sarnia for Halifax as an apprentice to Mr Joseph death. A prosperous harvest ensured that a Franklin. He arrived in Halifax on the 14th, took a community would be fed throughout the potentially train to Vancouver, and arrived in Vancouver on the barren winter months. It’s therefore no surprise that 22nd. it was also a time steeped in superstition and, if On March 7, 1890, he left for Squamish from successful, much celebration. Many of these Vancouver at age 19 with his friends Harry Judd and traditions even pre-date Christianity. A.J. (Bert) Crysler and their friend Drummond. They The church festival that is the most common left in a sailboat that Crysler and Judd had made. He harvest celebration still held today originated in pre-empted on an island in the Squamish River, now Morwenstow, Cornwall in 1843, when Reverend known as Baynes Island (in the area of an Indian Robert Hawker invited the parishioners of his church graveyard). into his home to receive the Sacrament in “the bread In 1892, Edgar left Squamish to become a of the new corn.” Whether from the Divine, the carpenter in Vancouver. During his time he placed elements or the mystical, all help was gratefully long firm beams in the Christ Church Cathedral. received. In 1893, he established Baynes and Horie Thanksgiving Construction Company with William Horie. The office in Canada was in the Baynes house at 634 East Georgia. They would build many of the early buildings on Water Thanksgiving was first and Cordova Streets and more schools than any observed as an annual event other contractor in the province. His company also in Canada on 6 November 1879. ... It was not until 31 got a contract to January 1957 that Parliament proclaimed the erect Entrance Island observance of the second Monday in October as “a Lighthouse near day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the Nanaimo (paid bountiful harvest with which Canada has been $2308). blessed.”